Warriors finally crowned - Westinghouse wins Illinois Class AA state title

Clide Crosby (12) and Andre Iguodala (41) look on as Jamaal Brown (10) looks to grab a rebound in a mathcup between Westinghouse and Lanphier on Dec. 29 at the Pekin Holiday Tournament with the Lions pulling out a 77-71 win for the title.

By Frank Rusnak
The road to championship glory doesn't come much harder then the one that Chicago Westinghouse took to be crowned the 2001-02 Class AA Illinois State Champions. But these Warriors wouldn't have had it any other way, topping Springfield Lanphier 76-72 Saturday night (3-16-02) at a jam-packed (11,200) Carver Arena in Peoria.

"It's a great feeling. I can't describe how I feel."

Chris Head
Westinghouse Coach

While some teams opened up post-season play against far inferior competition, this wasn't the case for Westinghouse. After winning the Red West title--giving them a first round bye--they kicked off action in their first game against a talented Whitney Young team, which was picked by some as a preseason Top 10 team. The Warriors followed that up with a tough road through the City playoffs, then downed Glenbard North and New Trier Downstate to set them up with Lanphier, the state's top rated team that advanced to the Elite Eight.

Westinghouse (30-5) held as much as a 19-point lead with 4:26 left in the third quarter against the Lions. But Lanphier (32-2) then went on a 13-2 run with 1:32 left in the third period to inch within seven points. Following that up with 10-2 run at 3:34 left in the fourth quarter, Lanphier took the lead for the first time in the game with a free-throw capping an And 1 by Lanphier's 6'6" senior Andre Iguodala.

After the lead changed hands twice more, Westinghouse would grab it for good on a layup by Randon Williams with 55 seconds left. A pair of free-throws by Westinghouse's Jamaal Brown and another from Darius Glover would seal the deal as Westinghouse won its first state title ever.

"It's a great feeling," said Westinghouse coach Chris Head. "I can't describe how I feel. It's just a great feeling"

Leading the way for the Warriors was Glover with 28 points on 12-16 shooting from the floor. A 6'4" combo forward, Glover also added 10 rebounds in a complete game with 32 minutes of action.

Richard Russell (15 points), Brown (12 points) and Anthony Bennett (11 points) joined Glover in double figures.

While Westinghouse went into half-time with a 32-18 lead, Lanphier's 6'4" all-state guard Richard McBride could not find his stroke. Finishing the half 0-8 from the field, he had accumulated only two points on a pair of free-throws. It was a different story for McBride in the second half.

McBride led the Lion's charge with 6-8 3-point shooting in the second half, finishing the game with 22 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. McBride's teammate and fellow all-state performer, Iguodala totaled 29 points, six rebounds and four assists.

"I think we were a little intimidated in the first half," said Lanphier coach Craig Patton. "Some of our shots weren't exactly the kind of shots we normally like to take, especially against a team like Westinghouse. We wanted to win the game, naturally, and when Westinghouse got us down we kept our poise and didn't lose sight of where we wanted to go [but fell in the end]."